TROUBLED Rift Valley Railways on Monday replaced its managing director and created an executive position under a new management structure in what is seen as a move to shore up its dwindling fortunes.

RVR, the Kenya-Uganda Railways concessionaire currently being accused by the Kenya and Uganda governments for not meeting its contractual targets, replaced its managing director Roy Puffett with Kevin Whiteway, an Australian, and appointed Brown Ondego the executive chairman, a newly created position.

Announcing the changes, RVR Directors Steering Committee chairman Ngugi Kiuna could not hide the significance of the new management structure and subsequent appointment of Ondego.

"The creation of an executive chairman slot and the subsequent appointment is geared at ensuring that we continue to enhance our management capacity to facilitate a speedy turnaround of the Kenya-Uganda Railways," Kiuna said according to media reports in Nairobi.

Puffett downplayed his departure, attributing it to a reshuffle of top management by the parent company, Sheltam of South Africa.

RVR, the holder of the 25-year concession to operate the lines in Kenya and part of Uganda, is a consortium led by Sheltam of South Africa, with partners Babcock and Brown of Australia, the TransCentury Group, and Centum.